Nimbus, DD in talks for non-India matches

December 05, 2002 13:00 IST

Doordarshan has said that it is in negotiations with Nimbus Communications to air non India played World Cup Cricket matches on a deferred basis. It already has an agreement with Nimbus to air India-featuring matches live.

"As per the agreement we would share the revenue with Nimbus with 80 per cent going to Nimbus. We are also talking to air non India matches also in India on a deferred basis," S Y Qureshi, director general of Doordarshan, said.

He said Doordarshan's revenue earnings till November-end this year had dipped to Rs 266.64 crore (Rs 2.666 billion) compared with Rs 327.9 crore(Rs 3.279 billion) during the corresponding period last year particularly due to withdrawal of Channel 9 and Buddha Films.

Qureshi, however, expressed confidence that the shortfall would be made up by March.

According to him, DD has set a revenue target of Rs 625 crore(Rs 6.25 billion) for this fiscal.

He said telecast rights of cricket matches that Doordarshan has would be

one of the key drivers for its growth.

He also said that the state broadcaster has entered into an agreement with Nimbus to air India played World Cup matches.

Qureshi also said Doordarshan would start the DTT services soon in four metros wherein a consumer can view five DD channels by using a box worth Rs 5,000.

"The technical experiments have been successful and now we can go public," he said.

According to him the state broadcaster's news programmes captured 93 per cent of the market share and 35 of its programmes being among the top 50 programmes.

Even in the context of news programmes, more than 93 per cent of people watch DD news at the prime time between 8 pm and 9 pm, followed by Aaj Tak (3.12 per cent) and others, he said quoting a survey figures.

"Technically we are not a news channel but a multi-programme one. So others declare themselves the best news channel. There is a conscious effort by competitors to downplay DD," he alleged.